Every Saturday by 9 a.m., I’m at school, sitting in a cold plastic seat and staring at hundreds of bubbles. With two sharpened No. 2 pencils and a 30-some page practice SAT on the desk, I gear up for four and a half hours of standardized testing entertainment. Seriously.

It’s October, the month of standardized tests. With the SAT, PSAT, and PLAN all within a few stressful weeks, many college-bound high school students are simply sleepless.

There’s no denying it: standardized tests just aren’t that fun, whether it is the SAT II (with subjects ranging from biology to modern Hebrew) or the classic, hours-long Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP). Especially since the CSAP offers no immediate benefits to the students, the tests just feel like a waste of time.

Many students don’t care about the CSAPs, but the schools wish they would, since these tests are essentially do-or-die for Colorado public schools. They’re a test for teachers and administrators, not students.

When I was in elementary and middle school, my classmates and I took the CSAPs very seriously. I regarded CSAP days not as a celebrated week of no homework, but rather as the time I fulfilled expectations.

Losing sleep at age 8

Of course, living up to that standard was stressful. The night before my third-grade CSAP, my first important standardized test, I was unbearably nervous. I simply didn’t know what to expect and I couldn’t fall asleep because of it.

Luckily, the third-grade CSAP went well. And with every passing year, I noticed that my CSAP anxiety decreased significantly.

Some students see no motivation to take the test. I disagree. I think I learned something from taking the CSAPs. It teaches test-taking strategies. And it’s about learning to calm nerves and getting used to standardized tests, because there are scarier ones ahead. And for college-bound students, those ones matter.

As a high school junior, I spend Saturday mornings taking practice SAT tests and Sunday nights drilling problems. I religiously review vocabulary. I’ve stocked up on SAT and college handbooks.

My family spent $1,245 for me to take a 30-hour group class designed to boost SAT scores. It’s expensive, and I barely have time for it after exhausting homework, sports and extra-curricular activities.

According to bloomberg.com, the SAT prep industry is a $400 million business. For students who really want to invest, private tutors cost anywhere from $50 to more than $650 an hour.

It seems that when it comes to the tests that count, students and parents are motivated to spend time and whatever it takes to increase scores.

Lucky to have had practice

And as I prepare for these important exams, I’ve realized that I’m actually lucky to have taken the CSAP six times. That’s six practice tests, all without costing a dime. I’ve refined my testing skills – relaxing, pacing, double-checking, remembering to bring the lucky pencil. With practice comes ease, and because of CSAPs, I’ve been preparing since I was 8. Whether my teachers or I knew it at the time, the test-taking strategies we practiced are now useful for vital high school tests.

Taking the CSAPs was like drinking eight glasses of water a day: awfully boring and mundane, but advantageous in the end.

And while I complain about standardized tests and the time I spend preparing for the SAT, I also realize that there’s no better way to compare students across the country. And since I can’t run away from tests and I’ll see more in college, I might as well get all the practice I can get.

And now, with the PSAT looming this month, I’m grateful for every bit of practice I had. Including the questionable CSAPs.